Scottish Executive

Best Value

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the composition of its Best Value Task Force complies with the Nolan principles, given (a) the proportion of the force's membership that represents local government and (b) any vested interest of such representatives.

Peter Peacock: The Best Value Task Force does not fall within the authority of the Commissioner of Public Appointments and her Code of Practice does not therefore apply in this instance. However, ministers do seek to apply the spirit of the code whenever relevant and I am satisfied that the appointments we have made to the Best Value Task Force are both appropriate and justified.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the incidence of different cancer types varies across Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: Incidence rates of most types of cancer vary between areas of Scotland and are due to differences in exposures to the main risk factors for cancers: tobacco use, alcohol consumption and diet. Occupational, environmental and genetic factors also contribute to variations.

  ISD Online provides information on cancer incidence by NHS board for the five-year period 1994-98 and the 10 years 1989-98 at:

  www.nhsis.co.uk/isd/cancer/facts_figures/facts_figures.htm.

  Cancer Registration Statistics Scotland 1986-1995, which provides commentary on risk factors, is also available at:

  www.nhsis.co.uk/isd/Scottish_Health_Statistics/subject/Cancerregistra/index.htm.

Community Service Orders

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many breaches of community service orders there were in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Dr Richard Simpson: Figures for the number of breach applications relating to community service orders are not broken down by sheriffdom. The total figures for breach applications are available for the last two years, and are given in the following table:

  


1999-2000 
  

1,137 
  



2000-01 
  

1,240

Community Service Orders

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been reported for breaching community service orders in each of the last five years, broken down by sheriffdom.

Dr Richard Simpson: Figures for breach applications of community service orders are collected on the basis of numbers of applications, not numbers of people. Figures are not broken down by sheriffdom.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26333 by Nicol Stephen on 16 September 2002, what minor changes to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) procedures for student sampling and test administration were made to enable the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment to be run in Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: The minor changes are as follows:

  1. The test administrators were not provided with the type of group training specified by the OECD. This was because the tests were administered by a member of school staff rather than by someone appointed by the contractor. The use of school staff was not in breach of OECD procedures. The fact that the test administrators would have been experienced in supervising test situations meant that group training was considered unnecessary given the disruption this would have caused to schools.

  2. The contractor provided the test administrators with a summary of the OECD guidance, which was used to brief the pupils.

  3. The specified procedures state that 35 pupils from each school should sit the tests. As most of the test administrators were school teaching staff it was considered that groups of 30 pupils would be more appropriate for Scotland. Care was taken to ensure that the sampling of students was random and the smaller group did not introduce any bias into our results.

  Our aim is to ensure that all aspects of current OECD regulations are complied with in the 2003 study.

European Union

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which of its representatives spoke at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting on 14-15 October 2002 in Luxembourg.

Ross Finnie: Scottish ministers attend Council meetings as members of the UK delegation. The Concordat on co-ordination of European Union policy issues provides that in appropriate cases the leader of the delegation can agree to Scottish ministers speaking for the UK in Council, and that they do so with the full weight of the UK behind them. Since the detail of exchanges within Councils is confidential, it is not the Executive’s practice to disclose the part played in Councils by individual members of the UK delegation. It is always my objective to ensure that Scottish interests are fully pursued in relevant Council discussions.

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representatives it has sent to the EU Agriculture and Fisheries working group meeting on 7 and 8 November 2002.

Ross Finnie: Representatives of our Sea Fisheries Division attended the fisheries working group on 7 November 2002.

Health

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the excess winter mortality figures have been in each year since 1997 to date, broken down by (a) region, (b) age and (c) gender.

Dr Richard Simpson: There is no universally accepted definition of excess winter mortality. A number of options were discussed in an Occasional Paper published earlier this year by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The paper, which was entitled The Raised Incidence of Winter Deaths , may be found on the GROS website:

  http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/grosweb/grosweb.nsf/pages/occ7.

  In their routine data for England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics defines excess winter deaths as being the difference between the number of deaths occurring during the four months December to March and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July). The following table provides information for Scotland based on this definition.

  


Excess Winter Deaths in Scotland: 1997-98 to 2001-02 
  

1997-98 
  

1998-99 
  

1999-2000 
  

2000-01 
  

2001-022




Scotland 
  

2,610 
  

4,750 
  

5,190 
  

2,220 
  

1,840 
  



(a) by health board area 
  



Argyll and Clyde 
  

340 
  

290 
  

400 
  

100 
  

180 
  



Ayrshire and Arran 
  

130 
  

380 
  

380 
  

90 
  

100 
  



Borders 
  

10 
  

130 
  

120 
  

50 
  

40 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

30 
  

160 
  

130 
  

70 
  

50 
  



Fife 
  

120 
  

330 
  

310 
  

280 
  

200 
  



Forth Valley 
  

160 
  

220 
  

260 
  

150 
  

30 
  



Grampian 
  

250 
  

520 
  

490 
  

190 
  

170 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

520 
  

980 
  

1,040 
  

460 
  

410 
  



Highland 
  

90 
  

170 
  

130 
  

60 
  

80 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

340 
  

440 
  

530 
  

250 
  

200 
  



Lothian 
  

370 
  

620 
  

850 
  

360 
  

220 
  



Orkney 
  

20 
  

0 
  

20 
  

0 
  

10 
  



Shetland 
  

10 
  

40 
  

20 
  

10 
  

10 
  



Tayside 
  

230 
  

450 
  

450 
  

180 
  

130 
  



Western Isles 
  

10 
  

30 
  

70 
  

-101


10 
  



(b) by age group 
  



Under 65 
  

170 
  

380 
  

650 
  

260 
  

80 
  



65 - 74 
  

730 
  

790 
  

970 
  

370 
  

230 
  



75 - 84 
  

950 
  

1,660 
  

1,820 
  

820 
  

820 
  



85+ 
  

760 
  

1,920 
  

1,750 
  

760 
  

710 
  



(c) by gender 
  



Males 
  

1,080 
  

1,970 
  

2,230 
  

910 
  

630 
  



Females 
  

1,530 
  

2,780 
  

2,960 
  

1,310 
  

1,210 
  



  Notes:

  1. A negative figure occurs when the average non-winter deaths exceed the winter deaths.

  2. The information for 2001-02 is provisional.

  3. As this is a crude measure of the increase in mortality associated with winter conditions the numbers of excess deaths have been rounded to the nearest 10.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it was first advised of the outcome of the appeal to the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal in the case of BetterCare Group Limited v the Director General of Fair Trading and what steps it has subsequently taken to consider the implications of the tribunal’s findings.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when guidance will be issued to local authorities and other public bodies on the implications for public services of the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal’s ruling in the case of BetterCare Group Limited v the Director General of Fair Trading .

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it was first advised of the appeal to the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal in the case of BetterCare Group Limited v the Director General of Fair Trading and what steps it was taken to be kept up to date with developments in this case.

Mr Frank McAveety: We were first made aware of the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal’s judgement on 20 September 2002.

  The tribunal’s judgement in the case of Bettercare Group Ltd and the Director General of Fair Trading stated that the Competition Act 1998 applied in the particular circumstances of that case. The director has decided not to appeal that decision. One implication is that, potentially, local authorities’ commissioning of care services could be subject to the Competition Act, but each case would need to be decided on its particular facts. The judgement did not comment on whether the North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust or, in our context, other local authorities, are presently contravening the act. The Office of Fair Trading will now reconsider the issue of the alleged anti-competitive conduct of North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust.

  I understand that the European Court is currently considering a similar case and that an outcome is expected by next spring. This may help to clarify whether the act applies to the commissioning functions of public bodies.

  Against this background, no general assessment has been made of the implications of the ruling and we remain in close contact with our counterparts in Northern Ireland and the other UK administrations on this issue.

  In the meantime, we would continue to expect councils to apply Best Value principles when providing or purchasing care services and to operate in full concordance with the spirit and terms of the Competition Act.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which minister is leading discussions with Her Majesty’s Government on the implications for public services of the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal’s ruling in the case of BetterCare Group Limited v the Director General of Fair Trading .

Mr Frank McAveety: The Minister for Health and Community Care would lead any such discussions.

Learning Disabilities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it provides to the parents of children with learning disabilities outwith school hours.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive’s aim is to give all children, including those with learning disabilities, the best possible start in life. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 requires local authorities to provide and publicise a range and level of services appropriate to the needs of children with disabilities in their area. These services can be provided to the child, and in the interests of promoting or safeguarding his/her welfare, to members of the family.

  In addition, there is a range of programmes supported by the Scottish Executive that can offer support to parents of children with learning disabilities. These include the support we provide for very young children and their parents through Sure Start Scotland; the support we provide through Childcare Strategy funding which can be used to meet the out of school care needs of children with learning disabilities. It also includes the support we provide through the Support for Parents programme which helps parents acquire the necessary skills and confidence to support their children.

Learning Disabilities

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives there are for local authorities and NHS boards to implement the recommendations set out in The same as you? and what action will be taken if they do not do so.

Mr Frank McAveety: The incentive to implement the recommendations of The same as you?  is the achievement of better outcomes for people with learning disabilities and their families. Partnership in Practice Agreements for the period 2001-04 show that local agencies are making better use of resources to improve services for people with learning disabilities. We will continue to work in partnership with local agencies to ensure progress towards full implementation of the recommendations.

Mental Health

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding for mental health has been (a) made available and (b) spent in each of the last five years; how such funding was distributed, broken down by NHS boards and trusts, the voluntary sector and local authority social work departments; what formula is used to distribute such funding, and who decides on this formula.

Malcolm Chisholm: Local authority funding for mental health services, and all other community care services, is provided on an unhypothecated basis. It is therefore up to each local authority to determine use of these resources in line with local circumstances. This year, local authorities received £1,385 million for social work, with £1,112 million of that being provided for community care.

  Details of local authority expenditure on community care services for all client groups are provided in the Scottish Executive’s Community Care Statistics. The most recent version of this relates to 2000-01 and is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 24284). Estimates for 2001-02 suggest that local authorities spent £47 million on mental health services, with £19 million of this coming from Mental Illness Specific Grant funding, and £28 million from net local authority expenditure (excluding money raised from fees and so forth).

  The Scottish Executive does not provide NHS boards with a separate budget for mental health. Boards determine how much to spend on mental health and on other health care services from the total allocation of funds that they receive each year to cover the costs of hospital and community services as well as the costs of prescribing in the community. The allocation of this total budget between NHS boards is determined by the Arbuthnott formula which was introduced in 2001 following a major review of the methods of allocating funding for health care in Scotland. This allocation formula is updated each year to take account of changing circumstances - for example, changes in the distribution of the population between NHS board areas.

  NHSScotland expenditure on mental health has increased significantly over the last five years. The increases have been as follows:

  


1997-98 
  

£426 million 
  
 



1998-99 
  

 £437 million 
  

(+2.6%) 
  



1999-2000 
  

 £476 million 
  

(+8.9%) 
  



2000-01 
  

 £520 million 
  

(+9.2%) 
  



2001-02 
  

 £558.8 million 
  

(+7.5%) 
  



  Information on voluntary sector funding for mental health services is not held centrally.

Nuclear Power

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any local authorities have been approached by British Energy to request deferment of payment of its business rates for the operation of its nuclear power stations or other facilities; if so, which local authorities are considering, or have agreed, to defer these rates, and what the estimated loss in revenue and interest would be to each local authority in the event of (a) the rates being deferred for (i) one month, (ii) six months and (iii) one year and (b) British Energy not being able to pay back the rates.

Peter Peacock: This is a matter for the local authorities concerned.

Nursery Education

Angus MacKay (Edinburgh South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average increase in spending per nursery school has been in each year, compared with the previous year, since 1996-97 to date, broken down by local authority.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on publicising and making available the consultation document Hungry for Success - A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland .

Nicol Stephen: The consultation exercise was launched on 17 July 2002. The cost of printing and publishing the expert panel’s interim report and consultation document, analysing the responses and commissioning consultants to gather views of pupils on issues related to the panel’s recommendations has been £31,783.

Scottish Water

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of debt for non-payment of water charges by (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic customers was owed to Scottish Water at 30 September 2002.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water. His response is as follows:

  Total debt excluding unearned debt (i.e. the debt associated with annual bills being issued in advance of service usage) for water and wastewater services totalled £284 million with £176 million being owed by household customers and £108 million by commercial customers. Associated provisions, which in part reflect non-payment risk, were £131 million and £52 million respectively leaving net debt positions of £45 million for household debt and £56 million for commercial debt.

  It should be noted that in Scotland household debt is collected on behalf of Scottish Water by local authorities.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 148 responses received to the consultation Assessing our children’s educational needs: The Way Forward? stated that the Record of Needs system should be kept.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive received one response to the consultation document Assessing our children’s educational needs: The Way Forward? stating that the Record of Needs system should not be abolished.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will arrange the reporting mechanisms on its programmes in order to identify separately the amount of money given to local authorities, the voluntary sector and the private sector in respect of these programmes.

Mr Andy Kerr: As a large portion of the Scottish Executive’s budget is controlled by other public bodies it is not possible to routinely report on this basis. However, a report entitled Review of Funding for the Voluntary Sector - Direct Funding from the Scottish Executive , published in May 2002, which is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/finance/rfvs-00.asp , sets out the Executive's plans to reform the arrangements for its direct funding of the voluntary sector in Scotland. It covers and responds to recommendations arising from the consultation paper that issued on 30 April 2001 and the responses received to that consultation.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its direct or indirect funding of the voluntary sector will take into account any increased costs faced by voluntary organisations for water charges and insurance premiums.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is committed to proofing its policies for their impact on the voluntary sector to ensure they do not place an unreasonable burden on the sector. The Scottish Compact Good Practice Guidance on proofing covers this issue.

  Changes in charity water reliefs fall into this category. These changes were deemed to have a significant impact on the sector and therefore a £1 million hardship fund has been established.

  The Scottish Executive has no plans to cover the increased costs of insurance premiums.

Voluntary Sector

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give grants to voluntary organisations providing restorative justice schemes.

Dr Richard Simpson: The Scottish Executive currently funds, either directly or through local authorities, a significant number of schemes provided by voluntary organisations, which apply restorative justice principles. These apply both in respect of the under-16 age group and adult offenders.

Water Charges

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of debt for non-payment of water charges by (a) domestic and (b) non-domestic customers was owed to the former three water authorities at 31 March 2002.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water. His response is as follows:

  Total debt inherited by Scottish Water on 1 April 2002 for water and wastewater services totalled £260 million, with £155 million being owed by household customers and £105 million by commercial customers. Associated provisions, which in part reflect non-payment risk, were £119 million and £47 million respectively leaving net debt positions of £36 million for household debt and £59 million for commercial debt.

  It should be noted that in Scotland household debt is collected on behalf of Scottish Water by local authorities.

Youth Crime

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what policies to tackle youth crime in Renfrewshire it (a) has implemented and (b) is planning to implement and what associated investment is needed to implement such policies.

Cathy Jamieson: Every local authority in Scotland has been asked to produce an audit of youth crime; to identify the number of persistent offenders in their area and to have programmes in place to tackle their offending behaviour. Renfrewshire’s audit demonstrates significant progress in achieving these three requirements. Between 2000 and 2003, it will have received investment of £581,000 from the Executive to support its youth justice work.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

David McLetchie (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will prepare a report on the increased cost, and timetable for completion, of the new Parliament building at Holyrood and whether the SPCB will seek agreement through the Parliamentary Bureau to a debate in the Parliament on this matter at the earliest opportunity.

Sir David Steel: As the SPCB announced on November 19th, work on the Holyrood site is not now expected to be fully completed until August 2003 at the earliest. The cost implications associated with such a delay are currently being assessed. Once more detailed information is available on the extent of the delay and hence cost, the SPCB will make a report to the Parliament through the Finance Committee in the usual manner.

Parliament Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer on how many occasions Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body staff have (a) requested and (b) been granted permission to undertake local political activity in each year since 1999, broken down by grade.

Sir David Steel: We have only had one request from a member of staff to participate in local political activity. This was from a Grade 6, in 2001 and was turned down. Our conduct rules do not just restrict staff from working for a party or standing as a candidate in a local election. They also preclude staff from speaking in public on matters on local political controversy and this was the basis on which the Personnel Office ruled against agreeing the request.